I'm Here!
I made it to Albany this afternoon. I picked up my bag and waited around with other rookies for the shuttle. There ended up being 14 of us on the shuttle, but some of those were already team members. I'm still not sure how many actual rookies there are. Guess I'll find out in the morning at our bobsledding 101 class. Anyway, we stood around and talked for an hour and then started loading up. We were handing our bags up to someone in the back of the shuttle that I couldn't see. It was my turn and low and behold Curt Tomasevicz is taking my bag. If you don't know who that is, allow me to enlighten you. Curt played football at the University of Nebraska during the glory days of Cornhusker football. (I grew up a fan since Mom is from Nebraska and everyone there bleeds red.) He is also a member of the Olympic gold medal sled the Night Train. I'm a huge fan and was taken aback. Good thing I didn't have to talk just then. He and Emily Acevedo (another Olympian) were on our bus. Crazy cool!
The shuttle ride took about 2.5 hours. We saw lots of evidence of hurricane Irene along the way. All the surrounding towns are down in valleys, so not only did they get the rain, they got all the run off and debri too. Lots of cleanup going on. If I get to stay next week, we're going to help out with the cleanup effort on Saturday. Nothing like a service project to foster team bonding.
Once we got here, we checked into the OTC and got or official lanyard and access cards. That's right. I'm official. I have a great roommate, Val. She and this girl I met at the combine this summer are already great friends. They're both crazy and fun and it's going to be a blast! We headed to dinner (great food) and sat around talking for hours. I talked to Elena Meyers, Jamie Gruebel, Jazmine Fenelator, and tons of other national team members. Steve Holcomb, Steve Langston and Curt were sitting at a table nearby. So crazy awesome to be here with athletes that are the best in the world at what they do. Amazing!
The other rookies I've met are great. There are two Adams from Kentucky, Trevor the surgeon, Matt the Cornhusker football player from Omaha, Katy the teacher, Britt the football player (legit women's full tackle football), Val from Michigan, and a couple others whos names escape me. Most of them are in their mid to late twenties. A group of them were all out here together in March, so I've been hearing great stories.
I've already made some great memories, and I'm excited for making tons more. I'll keep you posted.
The shuttle ride took about 2.5 hours. We saw lots of evidence of hurricane Irene along the way. All the surrounding towns are down in valleys, so not only did they get the rain, they got all the run off and debri too. Lots of cleanup going on. If I get to stay next week, we're going to help out with the cleanup effort on Saturday. Nothing like a service project to foster team bonding.
Once we got here, we checked into the OTC and got or official lanyard and access cards. That's right. I'm official. I have a great roommate, Val. She and this girl I met at the combine this summer are already great friends. They're both crazy and fun and it's going to be a blast! We headed to dinner (great food) and sat around talking for hours. I talked to Elena Meyers, Jamie Gruebel, Jazmine Fenelator, and tons of other national team members. Steve Holcomb, Steve Langston and Curt were sitting at a table nearby. So crazy awesome to be here with athletes that are the best in the world at what they do. Amazing!
The other rookies I've met are great. There are two Adams from Kentucky, Trevor the surgeon, Matt the Cornhusker football player from Omaha, Katy the teacher, Britt the football player (legit women's full tackle football), Val from Michigan, and a couple others whos names escape me. Most of them are in their mid to late twenties. A group of them were all out here together in March, so I've been hearing great stories.
I've already made some great memories, and I'm excited for making tons more. I'll keep you posted.